


Always Forever

by aceofsparrows



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, I promise, M/M, Modern AU, Newsiestober, it's got a happy ending though, the feelsss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-16 04:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21265058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofsparrows/pseuds/aceofsparrows
Summary: Davey and Jack used to be so happy, but lately Davey's been in doubt. Then, Jack climbs through his window on a chilly October evening, and things get both worse and better at the same time.





	Always Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! We love procrastination-based writing, don't we? I promise my grades are not suffering... it's mostly just a way to escape the pressure of midterm grades being posted... 
> 
> Cross-posting here and on tumblr in celebration of the last day of newsiestober!! 
> 
> (I have no idea where this idea came from, I swear. It just happened...)
> 
> Enjoy!!

It’s eight p.m. and I’m lying upside down on my bed letting all the blood rush to my head when my boyfriend sneaks in through my bedroom window like some fairy-tale prince. 

Well, let’s be clear, it’s not so much as sneaking as it is using the hole in the screen to open the window and then complaining about how cold it is outside as he somehow miraculously manages to wriggle his way through the window and  _ thump _ unceremoniously onto my grey shag carpet. 

But that’s beside the point. 

“Jack,” I sigh, and although my eyes are firmly shut I know he’s fidgeting with the curtains by the way their rod rattles ominously. “Why are you here?” 

“Uh, ‘cause I wan’ed ta see ya? Why else would I be here, Dave?” 

I sit up, keeping my eyes closed for a moment longer so I don’t get too dizzy. “I don’t mind, Jack, but you’re supposed to text me before you come over.”  _ And you’re supposed to use the door _ .

“I did, Dave,” he says, and I open my eyes to find him looking at me with an expression that’s somewhere between confusion and amused exasperation. 

We both glance at my phone on my nightstand, and I reluctantly crawl across the bed to unplug it. Sure enough, when the screen lights up there’s a text from Jack:

** _coming over i hv a surprise_ **

“What’s the surprise?” I ask, letting my phone fall back on the bedspread. 

“I’m not tellin’ ya; it’s a surprise.” He smiles just slightly, and there’s that familiar glint in his eye. 

I don’t smile back. 

“Jack, it’s late. I’m tired. I have a test tomorrow.” 

I flop back onto the bed, closing my eyes once more. I’m so tired lately, trying to finish all my college apps before the early action deadline and do my normal homework  _ and _ stage manage the fall musical at school. 

And Jack, with his restless spirit and his paint-splattered jeans and his mischievous grin and his big, Santa Fe dreams? I used to feel more alive when I was with Jack, but now his signature roguish smile only radiates childish insecurity and I constantly stop to wonder whether I still love him. 

It’s sad, but it’s true. 

Jack is avoiding my upside-down gaze when I open my eyes again, fiddling with the kiddie soccer trophy up on the shelf above my desk. He flicks the little plastic soccer ball so it spins around and around and around; the silence is heavy and important, but neither of us really wants to break it. 

I’m about to ask him about the surprise again when there’s a soft knock on my door; the doorknob turns, and Sarah pokes her head in. 

“Hey Day— oh, hi Jack— does Les have piano tonight?” 

I sit up again, ignoring the little flashes at the edge of my vision as the blood rushes back out of my head. 

“No, I don’t think so. Do you know when Mom is gonna be home?” 

Sarah shakes her head. “No. She said probably around midnight, but it was later last night, so I’m not sure.” 

“Okay.” Our mom is a secretary for one of the city hospitals near our apartment, and this week she’s got the night shift. With Dad upstate for a work trip all month, it’s been just me, Sarah, and Les at home to take care of ourselves most nights. 

Which is another reason I don’t need Jack climbing through my window late on a Wednesday evening. 

Sarah blows me a kiss and closes the door again, but not before casting a troubled look between Jack and I. As soon as she’s out of sight my phone buzzes on the bed next to my knee, and the message that lights up the screen is from her:

** _What’s Jack doing over?_ **

I type back a response quickly, glad Jack is still preoccupied by my trophy shelf and hasn’t noticed me texting. 

** _He txted me but I didn’t notice. Says he has a surprise. _ **

Sarah’s reply is almost instant, and it makes me sigh and roll my eyes. 

** _Dude. Bro. Surprises are GOOD (usually lol). I can take care of Les, go hang w ur boyfriend. _ **

Sarah only sort of knows how I’ve felt about Jack lately. She mostly thinks it’s because I’m scared of having to break up with him at the end of the year for college, or that I’m just super stressed and him not being stressed is annoying me more than usual, and while she’s partially right, it’s more than that. 

But for once I suppose I should probably listen to her, since she  _ is _ my sister, so I lock my phone and slide off the bed. 

“Hey, you wanna go for a walk?”

*** * ***

Fall is sweeping across New York in full fiery color, and Jack and I both bury our hands in our pockets against the chill as we wander down the street toward Union Square Park. The sun has just finishing setting, it’s last rays peaking through the gaps in the buildings. 

Jack and I both say nothing.

The park is quiet; parents and their children have already gone home for the day. It’s just Jack and I on the path, walking close enough that every so often our elbows brush. Finally, when I can’t stand the silence anymore, I clear my throat. 

“So, what’s the surprise?” 

Jack looks at me, and I can tell he wants to reply with “I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise” again, but thinks better of it. 

“I, uh,” he clears his throat nervously, swallowing and looking over his shoulder like he thinks we’re being followed or something. “I just wan’ed ta give you somethin’ is all. It’s kinda stupid, now that I think about it.” His gaze flicks to me for a moment before darting away again and he shoves his hands deeper into his pockets. 

I frown. “You wanted to give me something? Jack, my birthday—”

“—isn’t until March, yeah, I know Dave. But I shouldn’t need a reason to give ya things, should I? I mean, we’s been dating for almost three years now, Davey, and usually people who’s been datin’ that long give each other things all the time…"

I inhale, pressing my lips together in what Sarah calls my “lemon face”. I do it mostly when I’m annoyed or trying hard to keep my opinions to myself. Currently I’m doing both, though mostly unsuccessfully since Jack is well versed in my expressions and knows exactly what I’m thinking almost as soon as I do. 

He sighs, breath billowing in the chilly air. “Dave…” I shake my head, staring at the toes of my sneakers, and he trails off, frowning. “What? Dave, you’ve been acting real-”

“Look, I know I’ve been acting weird, Jack. Believe me, I know.” I run a gloved hand absently through my hair, but in the cold, dry air all it manages to accomplish is making my curls stand slightly on end from the static. “I just… I’ve felt differently about you lately, Jack-- about  _ us _ . And I don’t really know what’s going on, and I’m just so  _ tired _ …” 

Something like the beginning of a sob lodges itself in my throat, and I try to swallow it but it sticks stubbornly, bringing searing tears to my eyes against my will. 

“Dave, hun,” Jack says, voice quiet with worry, but I don’t let him go on. I need to say it, I need to just say it and get it out, I need to…. I need to….

“Jack, I…  _ I don’t think I love you anymore _ .” 

I look Jack dead in the eyes when I say it, and immediately wish I hadn’t. He goes pale, brow softening and mouth setting itself into a resigned sort of line. The fight and tension has bled from his frame, and all that remains is a deeply saddened shell. 

“Oh,” he says, so quiet I wouldn’t know he’d spoken if his mouth hadn’t moved just slightly. “Oh,_ God, Dave_…” 

The sob in my throat rises against my will, and I choke on it as it burst out of my mouth in a dry catch-breath. Three shuttering breaths rack my diaphragm like gunshots, and even though I don’t know why and don’t want to, I start cry. 

Jack doesn’t move, just stands there with that far-off sadness in his eyes, watching. 

I’m glad the park is empty; this was never supposed to happen here, to happen now, but at least there’s no one around but us to witness it. 

This is not how I wanted us to end. But then again, did I ever really think we were going to end?

The moment stretches on and on, me sobbing despite my best efforts, Jack standing still and quiet watching me, until he digs a hand into his coat pocket and slowly removes something small and blue. 

When I wipe away the tears, hiccuping, I see it's a box, petit and covered in periwinkle velveteen. 

"I, I know it's silly, an' small, an' you probably don' wan' it, but..." Jack swallows, fiddling with the clasp on the lid of the box. "But I bought it for you, Dave, every cent my own money, and I want you... I want you to have it, even if we's over an' ya hate me and ya hate it... jus'... jus' take it, okay?" He holds out the box, small and blue and soft in the twilight, and with one trembling hand I take it, careful not to let it slip in my gloved fingers. 

We both stare at it for a moment in anticipation, not even breathing. Then I tug off my right glove with my teeth, using my bare hand to gently undo the clasp and lift the lid, and--

I can't breathe

I can't

I

The delicate silver ring sitting on its black velveteen cushion is perfect, simple but sturdy-looking, obviously well made. The centerpiece of the ring is a tiny Star of David, a symbol quite personally important to me. Even if I don't necessarily know what I currently believe, the comfort of that familiar hexagram has always stayed with me, even after I stopped going to temple when I was fifteen. 

"There's a, um, a chain," Jack says, obviously nervous in the silence. "I know you don't really like wearin' rings, so I thought if you could wear it around you neck, ya know, outta sight, all secret like, it'd be better..." 

Sure enough, a thin silver chain snakes from the back of the ring and out of sight under the cushion. I can't believe the level of thought and detail Jack obviously put into this, and one big question looms large in the back of my mind. 

"Jack, what the _fuck_ is this supposed to mean?" 

Jack gives a self-conscious little laugh, looking down at his feet briefly, then up at the dark sky. "It's uh, it's a promise ring. I read about them in some book about the fifties, I dunno, like three months ago? The book was talkin' about how guys used ta give 'em to their girls when they was goin' steady so they'd uh, they'd know they was, ya know, promised to each other. Like, I dunno, you're sayin' you's gonna stick with this person forever, ya know? Like, sorta a pre-engagement commitment sorta thing? I dunno." He sighs. "Anyway, I wan'ed ta get one for each 'a us so's I could let ya know that, uh, I ain't goin' nowhere without ya unless ya want me to. So, um, yeah. That's what it means, Dave; it means I'm here forever, however long that may be." 

I can't breathe

I can't 

I

I'm crying again, even though I shouldn't be. I shouldn't be standing here, holding this ring that means forever, and crying. 

I was supposed to break up with him. 

I was supposed to have stopped loving him. 

But I do. 

I _do_ love him. 

_I_ _fucking_ _love Jack Kelly_, and even though it wasn't supposed to last after graduation, he wants it to last _forever_. 

_ That's what it means, Dave; it means I'm here forever, however long that may be. _

Forever. 

Shit. 

I'm still crying, and I'm still holding the open box, and my hand is freezing, and Jack looks _very _worried now that I haven't said anything and _goddamnit I should say something_. 

"Jack, I... I... _fuck_, Jack," is all I seem to manage, but he understands what I'm trying to say. Slowly, he moves towards me, closing his hand around mine to close the box in my palm. Then he takes my face inhis hand, cupping my cheek to rub a soothing wool-clad thumb under my eyes and wipe away the tears. 

He steps closer, and I stay so still I swear I can hear the trees exhaling oxygen all around us. Jack looks into my eyes with a silent question, and I give him a silent answer with an ever-so-slight tilt of my head. 

And he kisses me soft and slow, and it's better than it's ever been. 

Here, in the twilight, under the canopy of fire-colored leaves and the cold night sky, it is more perfect than it has ever been. 

And for a moment, I catch a glimpse of forever. 

"Yes, Jack," I whisper in the sliver of warm space between us, and that well-loved grin spreads itself wide across his shadowed face. "Yes, forever. _Always forever_."   


**Author's Note:**

> See, I told you it would end happily! Just had to wade through all that painful angst to get there. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!!!!! Comments are the ambrosia of the soul. :) 
> 
> Best,  
-Sparrow


End file.
